He had a flat tire. A guy stopped to help him. He found out later it was a Congressman from Cincinnati.

Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep,. Brad Wenstrup takes a question during a debate forum for the first and second congressional districts of Ohio hosted by AJC Cincinnati at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center in Amberly, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018.(Photo: Sam Greene/The Enquirer)Buy Photo

Michael Paluzzi was on his way to Eastern Market in Washington, D.C., when he heard something smack the bottom of his car. He watched in his rear-view window as something flew out from under his car, and he heard his tire pop. He got off the highway and pulled over.

It was about noon on Saturday. Paluzzi was trying to figure out his next move when he saw a family walking down the street. The man introduced himself as Brad and, after noticing the United States Air Force Veteran sticker on Paluzzi’s car, told Paluzzi he was in the Army Reserves.

He helped Paluzzi with the tire – even getting his own car to drive Paluzzi to a nearby gas station after Paluzzi’s air compressor wouldn’t fill his spare tire.

They talked while they worked, and Paluzzi learned the man was a doctor from Ohio. He asked him how he ended up in D.C., and the man said he was in Congress. It wasn’t until after they parted ways, Paluzzi said, that he got curious and started looking up congressmen named “Brad,” learning his roadside assistance came from U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Columbia Tusculum.

Wenstrup’s campaign, when contacted by The Enquirer, downplayed the incident, saying Wenstrup travels often between Ohio and Washington, and this past week, he happened to notice someone who needed help.

“This is not the kind of thing Brad likes to brag about or even discuss publicly,” said campaign spokesman Andrew McAfee. “Most people would have done the same thing.”

Paluzzi served six years in the Air Force and now runs a small distillery in Falls Church, Virginia. He was on his way to Eastern Market on Saturday because his distillery was serving at an event there, he said. (Luckily, he had left early enough to still make it on time. No whiskey was harmed in the flat-tire incident.)

Afterward, though, the more Paluzzi thought about what happened, the more he wanted to share it. So, he wrote a letter to The Enquirer.

“Politics right now are ugly,” he said. “And here is a politician who was just doing something because it was the right thing to do, not expecting anything to come out of it for his gain.”

Wenstrup, who is running for re-election against Democrat Jill Schiller, was a combat surgeon in Iraq, where he earned a Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge. The past few years, he has made several headlines for his responses in moments of crisis.

In September of 2017, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise credited Wenstrup with saving his life after Scalise was shot while practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game.